This Realist panel demonstrates that by 1926, Dalí’s formative years were drawing to a close; Dalí could achieve mastery in whatever style he chose. This painting has another distinction – it was one of the first Dalí paintings to be seen in America. In 1928 it was exhibited at the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh, along with two other works. The artist’s use of detailed illusionism and dramatic lighting against an almost black background alludes to the influence of the Spanish painter Francisco de Zurbarán (1598-1664), demonstrated in his work Still Life with Lemons, Oranges and a Rose, 1633. A contemporary of Diego Velázquez (1599-1660), de Zurbarán was renowned for his works’ austere piety and quiet beauty. Dalí saw bread as the staple of life of the Catalan people. Bread was the most basic element that united Catalans in their daily lives, and like Vermeer and Zurbarán, he renders it as a sublime symbol.

The painstaking realism of The Basket of Bread was a major achievement and marked a turning point in his career. It boosted Dalí’s ego and gave him a sense of mastery with traditional painting, freeing him to explore more difficult subject matter and imagery. This simple composition of bread in a straw basket on cloth is set dramatically against a dark background. Dalí followed in the Spanish still-life tradition, where a domestic scene represents spiritual reflection. By saturating the objects in such a mysterious light, he transforms the composition into an object of deep contemplation.